Market Place, Wilton

Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.

The Market Place, in the centre of Wilton, could be said to date from ‘time immemorial’.

Edward I (king from 1272 until 1307) referred to a charter for a market in Wilton having been granted by his ‘ancestors’. (¹)

The market was a significant part of the economy of a town or city. Apart from being the place where a significant quantity of goods and services were traded, taxes on the market were a source of income for the local aristocracy.

The decline of Wilton’s market, and the decline of Wilton itself as a regional centre, was mirrored, if not caused, by the growth of Salisbury market, which was permitted by the city’s charter in 1227 (²)

The holding of the market in Salisbury was the subject of some controversy. In 1240, people in Wilton alleged that there was a market being held in Salisbury every day, when the charter only allowed for a Tuesday market. In 1274, people in Salisbury accused the bailiffs in Wilton of physically way-laying traders and forcing them to go to Wilton market rather than Salisbury (³)

In 1305, the king forbade merchants to trade in Salisbury on the days of Wilton markets.(⁴)

Wilton fair

The fair in Wilton dates back to at least 1212.

In 1288 it lasted from the 14th to the 21st of September. In 1300, it was said to last only from nine o’clock on St Matthew’s Eve (20th September) until nine o’clock on St Matthew’s Day (the 21st).

According to the Victoria County of History, there were various different fairs at various different times. There were fairs of Saint George and Saint Giles in 1751, and fairs in April, July, October and November in 1731.

By the 19th Century, the September sheep fair was the main fair in Wilton. At peak 100,000 sheep were brought to the Wilton Sheep fair.

Footnotes

1. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41767 Date accessed 30 November 2009. [↩]
2. ‘Salisbury: The market place’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 85-87. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41787 Date accessed: 30 November 2009. [↩]
3. ‘Wilton: Markets, fairs, agriculture and mills’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 17-21. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41767 Date accessed: 03 December 2009. [↩]
4. ‘Wilton: Markets, fairs, agriculture and mills’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 17-21. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41767 Date accessed: 04 December 2009. [↩]